Our New Centre for Research & Development Opens

A new Centre for Research & Development (R&D) has been launched by Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

The grand opening was attended by Jane Cummings, Chief Nursing Officer for England, who congratulated the Trust for their forward thinking, innovation and on-going commitment to providing the highest quality of patient care. Other key speakers included Paul Gilbert OBE and Paul Lumsdon, Chief Nurse at the Trust. Patients’ artwork was also displayed in the centre.

The aim of the centre will be to improve the patient experience with the services offered. By supporting and encouraging staff to own the research and development centre, staff will be supported not only in research but also with the implementation of their work.

Jane Cummings, Chief Nursing Officer for England, said: “I think the work the centre will be doing is really good. The Trust has already demonstrated how good its compassionate care is – I would say leading edge – and the work they’ve done around nursing is also fantastic. It is already a brilliant service and its work among the best in the country, so the Centre for Research & Development should complement this. The concept of the centre also fits in with my own national strategy and I’m delighted and honoured to have been part of the opening.”

Paul Lumsdon, Chief Nurse at the Trust, who is leading the project, said: “The centre will look at three areas – compassion, dementia and self-harm. People in Derbyshire will see the benefits of this centre because we are looking to become national and world leaders in our work, but it is here our developments will be put into practice.”

The Centre for R&D will be self-funding and located at the Trust’s former Education Centre, on the Kingsway Site in Derby, and will focus on building upon the Trust’s existing compassion research profile as well as bringing together other strands of research activity already being undertaken.

‘Centres of Excellence’, will also be established which will be housed within the Centre for Research & Development, and will focus on programmes of research initially on compassion, suicide and self-harm, and in the future on recovery and dementia. It will support the Trust’s values and operate within our Quality Framework, promoting a culture of compassion and coaching. The development of these new Centres of Excellence is expected to follow the already established structure of the Centre for Compassion, led by Professor Paul Gilbert OBE.